The Venetian Arsenal and the Craft Guilds of the 13th Century

It’s officially our third day in Venice and today was a particularly exciting adventure. We took a tour of the Venetian Arsenal to learn a bit about how Italy maintained a strong system of defense on the waters beginning in the 12^th century. The first thing we noticed when walking towards the Arsenal were the massive walls completely fortified by brick to keep out pirates and other intruders. From the bridge, we could see off in the distance another massive but beautiful brick bridge that had a small opening in the middle for ships to enter. I found it to be particularly interesting when our tour guide explained to us that the structure of the canal was very strategic, because a boat would be able to travel into the arsenal, but had no way to exit. The canals were too narrow to turn around, and the further into the arsenal they travelled, the swampier it became. We had to show our passports upon entry to the facility because it is still a very active military zone. Additionally, our tour guide explained the significance of many of the statues and shields that were etched into buildings and I appreciated learning about the importance of each statue to the people of Venice.

My article was focused on the actual craft of shipbuilding and the society of craftsmen who worked on these projects, so it was interesting to see the actual importance of their craft in action. Men of the guilds built merchant ships, gondolas, military vessels, and passenger ships. Below is an image of a large poster we saw at the arsenal that displays all of the different kinds of boats these men were tasked with building.

 

I find it to be very interesting that the members of the shipbuilding guilds played a significant role in the protection of the empire, but received virtually no benefits from the oligarchy. They were deprived of involvement in most state and religious activities and they had to design their own systems of social insurances and religious involvement. Money that the guild earned from the collection of dues was put back into the guild to improve working conditions and to create a more comfortable environment for those employed.

Life in Venice thrives off of the water that surrounds it and I think that today’s visit to the Arsenal provided us with a lot of knowledge about what it takes to keep such a strong economy when you’re surrounded by water.